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M26 grenade
The M26 is a fragmentation hand grenade made by the United States. __FORCETOC__ Description The M26 is a fragmentation grenade developed by the United States military. Its distinct lemon shape led it to being nicknamed the "lemon grenade". Fragmentation is enhanced by a special pre-notched fragmentation coil that lies along the inside of the grenade's body. This coil had a circular cross-section in the M26 grenade and an improved square cross-section in the M26A1 and later designs. The grenades were stored inside two-part cylindrical fiberboard shipping tubes (Container M289) and were packed 25 or 30 to a crate. History Origins The M26 emerges The M26 was developed as a result of the studies on the Mk 2. Unlike its previous counterpart, its M204A1 fuse creates no tell-tale smoke or sparks when ignited and its powder train is almost silent while it burns down. Its Composition B filler was considered safer than the flaked or granular TNT filling used in the Mk 2. Use The M26 series was created after World War 2 to meet criticisms of the Mk. II. The original M26 replaced the Mk. II Fragmentation Grenade as Army standard issue in Korea. (Massive World War 2 production left the Mk. II as limited standard issue with the US Army and US Marines throughout the 1960s and the US Navy until the 1970s). The M26A1 / M61 was the primary fragmentation grenade used by American forces in the Vietnam War. Replacement The M26 series (M26/M61/M57) was replaced by the M33 series grenade (M33/M67) at the tail-end of the Vietnam War. Variants M26A1 The M26A1 is an M26 that has the fragmentation coil redesigned to have a square rather than circular cross-section and has deeper serrations to aid in fragmentation. It also added a small Tetryl booster charge on its fuze to completely detonate the explosive filler (displaced to 5.5 ounces because of the added booster charge) and used the updated M204A2 fuze. M26A2 The M26A2 is an M26A1 modified to accept an M217 impact fuze. It is slightly fatter than the M26A1 and has a red-painted lever that is embossed with the word "Impact" on it. M30 The M30 is the practice version of the M26 grenade. It had a cast-iron two-piece oval body with a plastic base plug. The body was embossed with the symbols "RFX55". It had a filler of 21 grains of black powder and used the M10A3/M10A4 or M204A1/M204A2 series of fuzes. Its body is painted light blue with a brown band across the middle. When the grenade detonated, the overpressure made the plug pop out and released a plume of smoke caused by the burnt filler. M61 The M61 is the M26A1 with an extra safety (called the "jungle clip"), a twist of wire attached to the lever. This is to prevent detonations in case the pin is accidentally pulled. Why this might happen requires a bit of an explanation. Although the practice was officially banned as unsafe, soldiers sometimes hung their grenades from their uniform by the levers. (This was probably encouraged by war movies and TV shows in which "cool" characters are seen hanging inert prop grenades from their breast pockets). If they got the grenade snagged, the grenade's pin might work loose or the lever would break off, detonating it. M62 The M62 is the practice version of the M26A1 / M61, but with a larger 5/8-inch fuze well. It has a filler of 37.5 grains of black powder and uses the M228 fuze. Its body and lever are painted blue to identify it as a practice grenade and it has a "jungle clip" like the M61. M50 The M50 was a "live fire" conversion of the M30 Practice grenade for use on training ranges. It sealed the base plug, used the M204A1 fuze, and replaced the low-explosive black powder filler with high-explosive Composition B. It allowed the training of recruits with greater safety because it lacked the fragmentation coil of the M26 and had a smaller blast radius. This also used up obsolete ordnance by utilizing worn M30 bodies as its base. M56 The M56 is the M26A1 with a larger 5/8-inch fuze well. It uses the M215 detonating fuse (with a delay of 4–5 seconds) and has a "jungle clip" like the M61. The M215 is similar to the M213 fuse used in the M33-series grenades except it has a curved lever rather than the bent straight lever of the M213. M57 The M57 is the M26A2 with a "jungle clip" safety attached to the lever. Category:Weapons Category:U.S. Military